“Full seven! Full seven!”
Cayo Central area representative and Minister of Agriculture Hon. Rene Montero shouted the news as he walked toward his constituents and supporters, setting off a mixture of joy and relief in the camp of the ruling United Democratic Party (UDP), as several weeks of campaigning had resulted in a close, tense victory at about 5:35 p.m. on Sunday.
The UDP selection for chairman, Albert Gentle, had defeated his two challengers, and despite early reports of a possibly mixed council from inside the counting room at the Georgeville community centre, the red had managed to get in all six councilors and complete a swing from the control of the Opposition People’s United Party (PUP) in what all sides say has been a traditionally blue village.
Twenty-one candidates, including full slates from both major political parties, and an independent slate of seven, had offered themselves for the post of chairman and six councilors. On polling day Georgeville broke loose from political lethargy and settled to the business of picking its leaders.
Village residents knowledgeable of the history of the community, located roughly seven-eight miles out of San Ignacio Town, say that the “George” in Georgeville comes from Rt. Hon. George Price, who, it is said, acquired the land on which the village is built from the New Haven Estate in the 1950s.
More recently, the village council has been under PUP control, and only in the last village council elections in 2007 had the UDP managed to make gains by splitting the council 3-3 and winning the chair.
After getting off to a bright start on April 25 by winning in Blackman Eddy, Unitedville and Valley of Peace, the UDP were anxious to make a point ahead of major villages in Cayo voting in the next three weeks. The PUP, on the other hand, was hoping to spring an upset.
The stage was set for a colorful, rambunctious day at the polls – the kind typical for Cayo, observers tell us – and Georgeville delivered.
As Amandala arrived at the Georgeville Community Center near the start of polls at 10:00 a.m., the PUP camp immediately drew our attention to what they said were vehicles allegedly in the use of the Government service being used to bring voters to the polls, in violation of the law. We understand that vehicles belonging to Government cannot be used in a personal manner or for political work.
Worse, a number of the vehicles appeared to be driving around without license plates, another violation. But no election official moved to stop the vehicles being used – the police did move a number of them from within the area of the community center – and they zipped in and out all day bringing voters in.
The UDPs, for their part, say none of the vehicles they used were government vehicles, despite at least one showing prominently the seal of the Ministry of Agriculture (that one was allegedly sold, we were told.)
Oscar Ayuso, PUP councilor candidate and former village chairman (he is a relation of the late former UDP party chairman and political aspirant of the same name who died last July in Belize City), told Amandala that in his view there was a lack of leadership from the previous village council, led by one Steve Tillett.
A story in Amandala #2297 of January 4, 2009, reported that Tillett’s own fellow councilors and some villagers wanted him out of office, but Local Government coordinator Eugene Palacio told our reporter that the system they used – a petition written by members of the council and signed by villagers – was improper.
In his view, the contest would come down to who had the stronger candidates, and Ayuso thought that the PUP had the advantage there.
Joining Montero during the course of the day were Hon. Anthony “Boots” Martinez, Minister of Works; Phillip Willoughby, Deputy Mayor of Belize City; Cayo North area representative Hon. Salvador Fernandez; Belmopan area representative Hon. John Saldivar, and, from about midday to 2:00 p.m., Prime Minister Hon. Dean Barrow.
The Prime Minister split his time between checking in with Hon. Montero and greeting party supporters under the UDP tent. Speaking briefly with Amandala, he firmly refuted any suggestion of government resources, specifically vehicles, being used with official authority in the election, and affirmed that the party was “pleased” with the results of the elections thus far.
As the morning wore on and the sun bore down, tempers began to fray and the police contingent, led by Inspector Dinsdale Thompson of San Ignacio Police, was forced to erect a yellow rope around the community center, marking off the 100-yard line beyond which no soliciting of voters or other illegal activity could take place.
Nonetheless, that did not stop supporters of both political parties from exchanging hard words throughout the day, on several occasions nearly coming to blows.
Both political parties were on the lookout for skullduggery on the part of their opponents, and two incidents, one around 11:30 a.m. and the other just around the close of polls at 3:00 p.m., illustrate just how closely they were watching each other.
A voter, one Usher, who, we are told, has family in the village but resides in Santa Elena Town, was apparently allowed into the polling station despite the protests of independent candidate Raymond Gentle, who had to be quieted down by the police as he loudly protested.
According to the PUP and the independents, several other individuals had been brought in from surrounding areas who claimed to be Georgeville residents, but in fact were not. We were not able to verify if he in fact voted.
And at the close of polls, after a policeman had stepped behind each of the voting lines to signal that no further voting could take place, a young man who claimed to have been in the line but said he had stepped out to use the bathroom appealed to regain his place in line. After a lengthy argument in which the PUPs claimed he had never been in line in the first place and the UDPs insisted he had the right to vote, Inspector Thompson declined the young man’s request, stating that the polls had already closed, and if his story was in fact true, that was his hard luck.
Independent candidate for chair Lorna Jones, who says she has been active in the community and is a graduate of the National Women’s Commission’s Women in Politics project, told us that she believed residents of the village were tired of the politicking and wanted real change. Her Colleague Verna Sutherland, who was running for councilor, told us two things she wanted to focus on if elected were a sanitation system for the community and creating jobs and opportunities for the youth of the village.
Deputy Mayor Willoughby and PUP candidate for chair, David McDougal, engaged in spirited debate near the PUP booth in Amandala’s presence around 1:00 p.m. The two spoke about village council politics versus those in the big city, and McDougal declared that the time had come for villagers to reject the politicization and work together.
That was also the view of a number of supporters of both stripes who went to the polls. One older female supporter of the PUP told us she did not approve of the robust nature of the debates at the polling station, and a number of others said Georgeville might have been better off picking a slate of seven, as some other villages have done.
But UDP councilor candidate Bernz Salazar told us that the politicization issue falls in the lap of the PUP, and claimed that village council elections would have inevitably gone the way of the general and municipal elections eventually because of the level of political support in the villages.
But in the end, 327 ballots were cast and the officials from the Elections and Boundaries Department set to work around 3:30 p.m. to count them.
Results started trickling in soon thereafter, suggesting a mixed council because of the number of mixed ballots favoring candidates from all three slates. The first blow to the PUPs came around 4:30, when the result for chairman was announced: Albert Gentle, UDP, 169 votes; David McDougal, PUP, 118 votes; Lorna Jones, independent, 19, and 22 spoilt ballots.
One hour later, out came Hon. Montero with the news and UDP supporters erupted.
Now-councilor Salazar told us, “We won because of the people of Georgeville; they had the trust and confidence in us to lead their community. …We began our work during the campaign and even prior to that, working in the community, opening roads, fixing light fixtures on the streets, creating jobs for our youth… because we did work and proved ourselves to the people, they came out and they believed we were the best choice for Georgeville.”
Salazar said that villagers had recognized the works of the party in the village during its time in central government, and pledged cooperation with the current UDP administration in Belmopan.
“…The election is over; the work will begin effective tomorrow and party politics no longer has a role in this community. It’s time to unite the village and work for each and every one of us.”
Hon. Montero told Amandala that the victory was down to “hard work”: weeks of campaigning and canvassing and finishing community projects. To detractors who claimed he had not been seen in the area since his election in 2008, he told us, “The results [today] say otherwise.”
Addressing supporters afterward, he said that he intended to work with village residents on projects of expanded water systems and electrification, road-building, and providing jobs for youth and assistance to students in high school.
We understand that Georgeville is also being considered as the site for a new high school serving the central Cayo District.
A defeated McDougal ascribed his slate’s narrow defeat to their decided lack of resources and support, but he was determined to carry forward.
“…We have to keep on the fight; this is our village. …We will see. The Prime Minister has made a number of promises to Georgeville, and I know for two and a half years we haven’t seen Rene Montero, Minister of Agriculture, until today; last week he did some grading of roads. …I am holding him to his promises. …”
Likewise disappointed, Lorna Jones told us she felt her fellow villagers were “intimidated” by the presence of party bigwigs in town and succumbed to their promises. She, too, refused to give up, saying that this was only the beginning.